Altering Worlds: Restart
by Cross Varia
Summary: AU: Shortly after defeating Ashera, Ike and Soren leave Tellius and end up at some ruins where they accidentally teleport themselves to Vytal. There they become instructors in Beacon as they find out how to get back to their homeland. They see the talent that the students of Beacon have and decide it's best to help them grow. Reworked, Re imagined, ready to go.
1. Remnants

A/N: This story is getting some major changes so I will be starting from square one on this one. Enjoy the reworked chapter 1.

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The hot air felt like fire on the skin of the travelers as their caravan made their way across the desert in the early morning. The leader of the convoy signaled to two of the travelers who stood next to the man. He pointed at a series of ruins in the distance which got a clear nod from both men. The party decided to keep moving, clearing out various beasts and bandits that laid in wait for any poorly prepared adventurers. Years after the fall of the Goddess of Order, the lands were rather peaceful but true peace never lasted. It was never supposed to last, the few people who didn't accept the world for what it was would always look to drag it back down into chaos.

That much was true for the group of about ten people which were getting closer to the strange ruins in the distance. The group consisted of the leader who was a man with dark green hair which he kept as wild as his personality, the other two who walked next to him had their appearance hidden as they did not want to give away who they were. The rest of the group consisted of people who had varying types of clothing yet had one thing in common, they all had some form of animal appendage. It was divided into people with cat ears that were on the top of their heads while others had wings that took different shades of colors.

Upon reaching the entrance, the sounds of creatures stirring caused the group to draw their equipment on instinct. "These things are what I was talking about. They only appear at these types of ruins. I don't understand why though…" The pair readied themselves when a roar caused everyone's attention to turn to a large creature. It had horns on the sides of its head and was larger than an elder dragon which caused some of the travelers to panic.

One of the pair reached behind his back gripping the hilt of an ornate blade. "Run into the ruins. I'll hold it back." The rest of the group ran as the man pulled off his cloak and tossed it to the side. With a battle cry the man charged drawing forth a golden blade which collided with the black creature whose body was surrounded by bones.

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In another place, it was night time as a group of students sat around a table in what seemed to be a cafeteria discussing everything that had happened in the last few weeks. The fight at the docks where everyone at least as far as RWBY and JNPR were concerned had found out about Blake's heritage. Ruby's fight against an intruder during the Beacon Ball and the training regimen that everyone had placed one Jaune Arc under once they found out about his transcripts.

That night they decided to look over one of the sparring sessions Glynda Goodwitch had placed them under. The team looked at the image on the gladiator's scroll as she loaded up the video of Jaune's latest match against Cardin.

 _The two stood at opposite ends of the arena with the screens showing each fighter's picture as well as a blue bar under each image. Upon the start of the match, the bars turned green allowing the two to fight. The knight took the initiative as he opened with a low sword thrust which the warrior parried with ease. Taking the opening, the knight spun and slammed his foot into the warrior's knee causing him to wince in pain before attempting another strike which was immediately avoided._

 _Cardin roared as he swung his mace downward only to miss completely and take another kick to his knee which caused him to grit his teeth. Over the next five minutes, Jaune would continue his hit and run strategy until the instructor gave him a cold glare. He chuckled nervously which caused him to miss the mace that proceeded to slam into his chest. Normally it would hurt like hell but due to his poor stance, the amount of force behind his blows didn't exist. Taking the opening, the knight stepped in and thrusted his shield forward causing the warrior to stagger backward before following up with another shield thrust which yielded the same result. This time, he took it another step forward as he closed the gap again and instead swung his sword at the warrior's leg._

 _Cardin grit his teeth as his aura stopped his leg from completely giving out but it was all for naught as he took a fourth shield bash followed by a thrust from his sword that sent him tumbling to the ground. The image on the screen depicted the warrior's bar to be blinking as it rapidly approached red while the knight's was still half full._

The group cheered and congratulated the knight once again as they reviewed what he did right and wrong in that match. He chuckled as he thought about the amount of work he had put in the past few months at least after the incident in the forever fall forest. He had skill training with Pyrrha and Weiss who had surprisingly volunteered to help them. Strength training with Yang and Nora who over the few months would force him to train shirtless due to the amount of muscle he was beginning to build. Finally, he had meditation as well as speed training with Blake, Ruby and Ren who made sure he would be able to control his aura levels in combat.

The night was going well at least until a bright light caught everyone's attention as a series of lights seemed to rain down the sky. "OOO! Shooting Stars!" The reaper called out with glee as she immediately closed her eyes and made multiple wishes while the others laughed at her antics. Secretly, everyone decided to make their own wishes to these mysterious stars.

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"Ngh...Damnit. Where did we land?" A blue haired man stood and winced at the pain that coursed through his body as he stretched while he checked himself to see if anything was severely hurt. He looked around and noticed another person on the ground. "Oh crap!" He dashed over to the downed person who woke up and sat up with a blank expression. "You alright?"

The other person nodded as he stood up and dusted his robes off. "I believe we've arrived to the glyph's location." He looked around but saw nothing of importance. "Unless that was a one way ticket." He quickly turned and pulled the bluenette towards him. A sudden gust of wind caused them to ready themselves as a large raven descended towards them. The robed man quickly pulled a book out of one of his sleeves and opened it. "Ike distract him!"

"Got it!" Ike reached behind his back and grabbed the hilt of a golden blade which he pulled up in time to block the talons from the raven. "Ngh. You want to play huh?" He quickly raised his sword and swung it down which caused a bright blue flame to singe the raven's tail which caused it to shriek in pain. "When's that spell gonna be done Soren?!" He dove to the side as the bird once again missed its dive. He grit his teeth and swung his blade once more unleashing a second torrent of flames. In response the bird flapped its wings causing the fire to disperse.

Soren opened his eyes and swung his hand forward. "Arcwind!" A cyclone erupted from the book and impacted the raven which was launched high into the sky. "Finish it!" With another swing of his hand, the cyclone went downwards causing the beast to impact into the ground with a loud crash. The second it hit the ground, Ike raised his sword and severed the head of the beast before he sat down to catch his breath.

"That thing was stronger than most of the Laguz we fought during the war." The bluenette quickly cleaned the blade and sheathed it on his back before he looked over at his companion who was placing his book back into his robe. "That spell came in handy huh." He stood and quickly began to climb a nearby tree. Soren sighed as he brushed his dark green hair out of his face. He scanned the area once more and rubbed his temples as he thought about where they could be.

The green haired man looked up and noticed the bluenette looking around until he pointed forward. "There's a large building what looks like a few miles from here. We can get there by the time the sun is complexly up if we hurry." The mage stepped back as his partner landed in front of him with a chuckle as they made their silent trek through the forest. "This place is definitely not Tellius. That creature may have looked like one of Kilvas' ravens but it had that weird skeletal armor on its head."

"I Agree. The flora and fauna are unrecognizable. Most of these things I didn't know existed." They continued walking until they looked up at the sky which was turning brighter as they walked. "Seems we appeared at the crack of dawn. Most likely there will be people in that building that can tell us where we are." During their trek, they stopped at some broken down buildings which had markings that looked familiar to the duo. "These ruins… Maybe this is why we were sent here. Some kind of disturbance sent us into this place instead of the actual destination." The swordsman shrugged as they looked into the ruins for a little while longer. About half an hour later the pair made it to the large building due to finding nothing of interest at the ruins in the forest. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

A second later they both moved out of the way of an explosion which came from the impact of a projectile. "What the?!" Before Ike could react, he was sent flying into a tree followed by Soren who was unable to dodge the attack either. They both winced as they stood back up and looked around for their attacker. "Soren." The green haired man nodded as he unleashed a burst of wind around them which caused their attacker to jump back in order to avoid being hit. "A woman. It's been a while since I've seen someone who can send me flying that far."

The blonde raised her fists in a fighting stance before she charged in again only to clash with Ike's blade. The sheer force of impact was enough to crack the ground as well as some nearby pillars. "Who are you?" She quickly side stepped a slash and retaliated with a swift overhead kick which he dodged by ducking and slamming the hilt of his sword into her stomach causing her to wince as she staggered backwards.

The swordsman hoisted his blade over his shoulder as he and his opponent circled each other. "I'm Ike, a mercenary. And you are?" He lowered his blade and readied himself before he swung his blade, unleashing a torrent of blue flames which she avoided with ease before launching a few projectiles from her gauntlets. "Names Yang! If you two are mercenaries then I can't let you pass!" Her smile actually made both men back away slightly as she looked as if she had found her perfect prey.

Before both could charge at each other once more, a glyph appeared in between them and stopped their attacks. "Yang could you stop trying to destroy the school this early in the morning!" The person who appeared was another girl, she was shorter than Yang and had white hair which was tied into a side ponytail. She looked over at the two men who were still waiting to see if they were still going to be attacked. "And you two are?"

The mage chose to speak this time as he curiously studied the white haired girl. "I am Soren and the one that you stopped is Ike. We are in need of some assistance." The fencer raised an eyebrow at the mage then tapped her finger against her chin before looking at the man. "I can take you two to headmaster Ozpin, maybe he can help you." They both nodded and looked around as they realized that the building itself looked incredible. "I've never been one for architecture but this place looks like it could hold its own during a siege." The fencer nodded as she led them towards the building.

Upon entering the building, the bluenette rubbed the back of his head as he realized that they definitely were not in Tellius anymore. "This place really must be more advanced than we first thought." As they continued their walk through the building, the people around them gave them strange stares. Some of the girls would swoon over Ike's rugged looks while others mistook Soren for a woman and attempted to hit on him which resulted in everyone in the room often bursting into laughter with the exception of the two new arrivals and their white haired guide.

Once they arrived to the third floor of the building which they both understood was a school, they stepped into a room where a man with silver hair sat with a mug of coffee in one hand and paper work in the other. He looked up and immediately sighed as he placed the papers down. "Miss Xiao Long and Miss Schnee. What do I owe the pleasure of this sudden visit?" Once he finished speaking, the two mercenaries stepped forward and bowed slightly. "So that was what the ruckus was about." He stood and examined the two people, taking his time to size them up before saying anything. "Your names?"

Ike nodded and crossed his arms. "I'm Ike, former leader of the Greil mercenaries. Although I doubt that carries much weight in this place" He pointed to Soren and the mage nodded as he stepped forward. "I am Soren. Former tactician for the Greil mercenaries. We were traveling to a different land but we ran into a strange glyph. When my friend used his weapon on it, we were launched into this place." The headmaster raised an eyebrow but then motioned for them to continue. "We don't exactly know where we are nor how to get back." He intertwined his fingers as he turned to both Yang and Weiss. "These two informed us about the general knowledge of this land. At least in terms of location and general terminology. We would like to offer our services in exchange for a place to stay in the meantime."

The silver haired man sat back down at his desk and placed two papers on the table. "You can call me Ozpin. I am the headmaster of this school. Beacon Academy, where the youth are trained to become the shield and sword for this world. What can you two offer that would make this deal worthwhile?" He leaned forward and rested his head on his knuckles as he stared at the pair.

Soren was about to speak when the swordsman stepped forward. "I led a mercenary group for close to ten years and my swordsmanship is top notch. Apart from that I've learned to survive in the wild for weeks on end without needing to restock supplies." He drew his sword and rested it against his shoulder. "If there's anything I don't know then I can easily learn. It's something that was required when I took leadership of the mercenaries. I can teach them all I know and more."

Ozpin chuckled as he slid the paper to Ike and then looked at Soren who was reading what looked like an old book. "And you young man?" Once he finished speaking, different glyphs appeared around him, each resonating a different element. He then dispelled them and closed his book leaving the headmaster slightly surprised. "I see…so you are an expert with magic." He proceeded to slide the second sheet to the young mage who picked it up and examined it. "If these skills are truly what you two have to offer then I will take you up on that offer." He chuckled as he leaned back into his seat once more. "I want Soren to teach the aura manipulation class as well as battle tactics and you mister Greil. I would like you to teach the practical battle course. Of course you will be teaching the first years so I wish both the best of luck."

Both former mercenaries bowed lightly before walking towards the door when they heard a loud grunt. "Before you go I would advise you to drop by the instructor's quarters and appropriate some clothing." Both nodded as they left the room. Yang and Weiss both looked at the door before they were dismissed. The school was going to become rather lively in the coming days.

Both mercenaries shrugged as they were led to the instructor's quarters by a woman with tied up blonde hair. "This is where you two will be staying. There should be clothing ready for you and you can call for any assistance you may need." she turned and walked away before either of the mercenaries could respond or ask any questions. They both shrugged and entered the room which was nicely decorated as well as a dresser with different clothing in it.

"Soren you can wash up first. I'm gonna work out a bit before I go in." The green haired mage nodded as he walked into the bathroom and disrobed before turning on the water and bathing. The desert really left them completely filthy as the sand, dirt, and grime washed off slowly. He sighed as he thought about the strange place they found themselves in. "Remnant. That's the name of this world and we're in Vale." He decided not to dwell too much on it and instead continued bathing.

The headmaster sighed as he heard footsteps. "Glynda have our new arrivals gotten what they need?" The woman walked over to the silver haired man's side and sat on the edge of the desk. "Yes. It seems the smaller one has a high magical yield while the swordsman has the look of one of those heroes in children's story books." The headmaster chuckled as he looked out of the window of his office. "Yes. I hope with those two…" He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he sat forward and rested his head on his knuckles. "We can prepare the young ones for the coming storm."

Ike was hard at work doing basic exercises such as push-ups and basic sword swings while he adjusted himself to the strange new environment. "First we fight a Goddess and now we appear in a different world. This doesn't surprise me but I wish we knew how we ended up here." He continued working out until he heard the bathroom door open with Soren stepping out wrapped in a bath robe. "Done?" The mage nodded as he opened the dresser and found robes similar to the ones he usually wore. "I guess I'll go in now." The bluenette walked into the bathroom and closed the door. The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful as they both drifted off to sleep rather easily.

The next morning Ike stood at the practice grounds with his sword drawn and practicing various stances and techniques he could remember before his students arrived. He looked over and sheathed his blade before leaning against a striking dummy. "Alright since not many of you if any at all know me. I'll take this chance to introduce myself with some general information about me." He pushed himself off of the dummy and crossed his arms. "My name is Ike, I have about ten years worth of combat experience." He then began pacing back and forth in front of his student. "I led a group of mercenaries as well as a small army so I will be teaching you the basics of combat as well as survival." He stopped and faced his students once more, this time he reached behind his back gripping the hilt of his blade. "To start off, I need to see where you're all at skill wise."

He drew the massive blade and sank it into the floor with a slight grunt. "This will be a test of skill to determine how far along you all are before going into in depth lessons." He removed his cape and tossed it to the ground followed by taking a few seconds to stretch. The students watched in awe as he finished his routine and walked back towards his weapon. "This is a simple test. Overwhelm me or disarm me." He entered his stance as he waited for the students to move. "Begin!"

About half of the students who were there took the initiative and proceeded to rush at the new instructor with the intent to end this as quickly as possible. Among the students, team RWBY and JNPR were creating a strategy which would allow them to pass this test. Before they could even start planning, everyone watched wide-eyed as this new instructor easily took out five students who attempted to attack him from all sides. The five who were downed winced in pain as the instructor walked past them and charged at the other five who were part of the initial rush. One of the five, a teen with orange hair yelled out commands to three other students who attempted a similar strategy of surround and conquer. A boy with a Mohawk slid low and attempted to clip the vanguard with a slash to the back of his leg only to feel the side of an armored boot slam into his face.

The boy clutched his face and screamed in pain as blood dripped from his nose. The leader clicked his tongue as he charged forward with his mace in hand. With a roar he swung and collided with the instructor who was blocking the blunt weapon with his golden blade. The other two saw the opportunity and flanked him from his sides allowing the other weapons to nearly connect had it not been for the split second of killing intent they felt. The two were frozen as the swordsman pushed back the mace wielder and swung in a horizontal arc causing the three to jump back.

"I thought he'd only be able to take on one at a time but I was wrong." He continued watching as Ike quickly finished off the remainder of the first group who had attacked him. "But I got an idea. If me and Pyrrha who have shields flank him, we can buy time for Weiss to bind him with her glyphs." The gladiator nodded at the plan so far readying her weapons. "Right after that, Blake can keep his sword arm down with Gambol Shroud's ribbon. Yang, Nora and Ren can then keep him on the defensive since he'll most likely break away from both bindings fairly easily." Jaune quickly caught his breath and then looked at Ruby who was checking her scythe one last time before beginning. "Ruby the most important part will be yours since your crescent rose has the best chance at hooking that sword and taking it away from him." The hooded girl nodded as they and the rest of the students readied themselves as Ike opened his eyes and pointed his sword forward.

"Are you ready or are you intending to surrender!" Once the words left his mouth, he quickly unleashed a torrent of blue flames which caught Jaune off guard for a second. Ike then turned and deflected a series of attacks that were aimed at him until he noticed a glyph appear on the floor. "Heh." With a quick jump backwards he was able to avoid being hit by the spell until a very resilient cloth wrapped around his sword arm. With a sharp pull he was able to pull Blake and throw her into Weiss who quickly stood up and readied herself. Within a split second, he turned and launched another wave of blue flames which scared off a couple of students who managed to sneak by and were attempting to attack him from behind.

Jaune waited as he looked for the perfect opportunity to launch his plan when almost all of the students with the exception of both team RWBY and JNPR were down for the count. "Ready?" The gladiator nodded as she readied her spear and shield. "1…" The white knight tensed as he gripped his shield and sword tightly. "2..." He took swallowed the lump which was forming in his throat from having to face someone who looked like a monster. "3!" On three they charged and used their shields to block a series of flames which the instructor launched from his blade. The young knight decided to run to the side in order to flank the swordsman when he felt the sheer force of a single sword strike send him tumbling to the ground. He winced as he stood back up and noticed Ike and Pyrrha exchanging blows while Weiss and Blake waited for the right time to strike.

The bluenette was surprised with the girl's skill as she was able to keep up with him by parrying his strikes at the right time but he sighed as he swung at her with his full strength which caused her to fly back a fair distance before she hit the ground. Upon finishing his swing, he noticed the familiar glyph now binding him to where he stood. "Damn it." He was about to destroy the glyph with his sword when his arm was fully covered in the same cloth that covered him before, this time it's owner was anchored to the ground by a similar glyph. After a few seconds Weiss began to strain to keep the glyphs active since he was trying to overpower them the whole time.

"Nora! Ren! Yang! Go!" Jaune yelled as he stood and charged once again followed by Pyrrha who was right behind him. By the time they intercepted the blue haired vanguard, he once again pulled Blake towards himself only to feel a shockwave impact his stomach. "Once more Ren!" On command, the raven haired teen dashed in and struck the vanguard's shoulder causing him to weaken his grip to his weapon. An orange haired girl grinned as she dashed in between the two and slammed her hammer into the bluenette's gut causing his eyes to widen as he flew several feet before landing back on his feet. "Yang!"

"Time for a rematch!" The blonde charge forward and began exchanging blows with Ike until he avoided one of her kicks and closed in with a swift elbow to her jaw which caused her to wince. He grinned as he followed up with a quick punch to her stomach which forced her further back until she launched one of her slugs from point blank which caused the vanguard to brace himself as he slid back from the repeated explosions. He winced as he took a deep breath followed by a green light which began to mend his minor wounds. He chuckled as he noticed his shoulder was taking longer to heal. Ruby noticed he was still nursing his shoulder which caused her to charge at him with the intent to strike at his sword. Before she could collide with him, Jaune jumped in between them and blocked a full powered strike which launched him into a wall on the opposite side of the room. Taking the few seconds of distraction, the reaper disappeared in a flurry of petals and crashed down into his sword causing his eyes to widen. He grit his teeth as he finally lost his grip which in turn caused his sword to fly out of his hand and into the ground.

"Impressive work. You really gave me trouble." He quickly moved around just to make sure he hadn't taken any severe damage during the fight until he let out a cough. He stared at his hand then chuckled as he shook his head. "Especially you two." He pointed at Nora and Ren who nodded while the other was jumping around and celebrating. "Those two attacks caused enough of a distraction that I not only lost the strength in my sword arm but I straight up lost any momentum I had."

He proceeded to walk to the center of the grounds where he crossed his arms and looked at everyone. "Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikkos, Yang Xiao Long, and Ruby Rose step forward." Once called, the four stepped forward and waited. "Jaune, you were able to create a strategy and then adapt. In battle that is a very valuable skill but, your actual skill in battle is mediocre at best." The knight chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean the plan worked and we accomplished the task even if I did get made a fool of in the process." The vanguard shook his head in disappointment. "If the commander dies then his orders are useless. Keep that in mind the next time you throw yourself at a more powerful opponent."

He stood in front of Pyrrha and looked her in the eyes. "Pyrrha, you have incredible skills for someone your age. You are nimble, powerful and skillful but, you were taking most of the punishment with the exception of that last minute save from Jaune. You ended up missing a couple of openings I left just so you could protect him. In a life or death situation, this will not do." She nodded as she looked down at the ground. The knight looked down at the ground and grit his teeth as he heard the statement towards Pyrrha.

He walked up to Yang and then looked at her with an unsatisfied look. "Yang. You have the potential to be one of the strongest here. Hell, you could even become strong enough to be a top hunter pretty quickly but you aren't. Are you holding back?" The comment caused her eyes to widen as she heard what he had just said. Holding back?! Ridiculous. She would never hold back on purpose. "Is it to show off? Or is it because you don't seem to find someone to challenge you?" She looked down and away from the instructor until he stopped in front of Ruby. "I'm impressed. You're fast. Maybe even faster than some of my former comrades. The weapon you chose is an interesting one." He chuckled as she lowered her head as if she was going to be scolded. "Don't worry. All I have to say is that you should have been involved a bit more in the battle."

"I want you all to know that what I'm saying is just a little of what I will let you all know at one point or another!" He picked up his sword and placed it back into its sheath followed by reattaching his cape. "From now on you won't only battle to hone your skills." He signaled for everyone to relax as he finished his thoughts. "I'm not pointing out the negatives to make you feel like garbage. I'm pointing them out because if they remain as is, you will get someone killed in battle." He rubbed his chin as he crossed his arms. "By the end of this year, you will all be much stronger than you are now. For now you're all dismissed!"

Upon being dismissed, Jaune rushed out of the training grounds and headed to his preferred spot in Beacon, the roof. He looked down at his hands and ran the skill test through his head as he focused on what Ike had told him. _"Your fighting style is mediocre at best." "You pick up the slack for Jaune. Don't you Pyrrha."_ He clenched his fists and looked up at the sky with a saddened look. "I thought I grew. I thought I changed." He drew his sword and raised his shield as he began to swing his sword in the air while trying different combinations of swings as well as using his shield more often. _"Mediocre"_ As he continued, his strikes became wilder and revealed more openings until he screamed and threw his sword into the ground.

He sunk to his knees and let out a low cry as he let everything out. "I try and try. What am I doing wrong?!" His question was answered when he saw a golden blade in front of him. "It isn't what you're doing. It's what you're not." He looked up and saw the swordsman looking out over the edge. The blonde stood and picked his sword up before he charged at the bluenette.

The vanguard swiftly parried the first strike before he side stepped a shield bash that was aimed for his head. He increased the distance between himself and the young knight but quickly raised his blade to stop the charging knight from impaling him. "This is what I'm talking about!" The two pushed each other away followed by Jaune charging once again. This time he jumped and slashed forward only to get pushed to the side before he crashed into the ground. "Let it all out. I want to see who you really are!" The blonde knight slashed once more but his blade missed, causing him to pivot his body in order to swing the sword around in a horizontal slash.

Ike blocked the slash and followed up with a low swipe which the blonde reacted to by jumping up and kneeing forward which caught the bluenette's face. He winced as he staggered backwards followed by a shield bash which kept him staggering backwards. After a few more seconds of offence, the vanguard slammed his fist into the knight's stomach causing him to fall to his knees then followed up with a heavy kick which sent him tumbling backwards. "Is that all?"

Pyrrha quickly ran through Beacon while looking for her team's leader when she remembered where he would be. "The roof." She dashed through students and faculty alike as she rushed to the roof before Jaune did something stupid. "Damn it." Once she opened the door, she stared in disbelief as she saw Ike struggling to push back the blonde knight who was surrounded in a fiery white light. "Professor what are you doing?!" The swordsman let out a battle cry as he grabbed the blade with both hands and swung at full strength which sent the knight crashing into the wall next to his teammate. "Jaune!"

She quickly ran to him and cradled his head as she began using her aura to heal him. Her focus was cut short when she was pushed back. "Jaune?" He stood back up and staggered over to his weapon as he raised it once again. "Stop! You're going to get yourself killed!" He ignored her as he flared his aura once again and dashed forward only to feel a palm impact the back of his head. His eyes widened and then glazed over as he finally hit the ground with a low thud. When she looked up, her other teammates were there, ready to intercept their leader. "Thank you. Ren. Nora." The two nodded as they helped carry their leader to the infirmary while the instructor looked on with the signs of a faint smile.

Once everyone left, Soren jumped down from the top of one of the large crates which were on the roof. "So what do you think of them?" Ike chuckled as he pointed behind him. On the ground was a series of large cuts on the ground which were from a long sword. "He has potential. A lot of it." The mage sighed as he sat at the edge of the roof and looked out at the horizon. "They will probably miss their afternoon classes so they can stay with their leader."

"How about a bite to eat?" The green headed mage chuckled as he stood and followed his friend to the cafeteria. "Perhaps you should bathe and clean yourself a bit. You have blood. Everywhere." The vanguard looked at his clothing and sighed since the blood was his. That knee really did a number on him as he sighed and walked back to their room before getting some food.

* * *

That night everyone barely spoke as they gave themselves time to think about what had happened that day. Team JNPR waited for their leader to be released from the infirmary but after what looked like a few hours, they were told to just go to their room as he would most likely be there all night and even the next two days due to the amount of damage he sustained combined with Aura depletion. Ren and Nora were relieved while their red headed teammate decided to take some time for herself in order to sort out her thoughts.

She sighed as she took a bite out of the sandwich she made and thought about the strange behavior from their leader until she heard a plate land on the table followed by the sound of someone happily eating. When she looked over she sighed as she reached over and wiped some crumbs from the corner of the young girl's mouth. "Slow down Ruby. You'll end up choking if you eat that fast." She proceeded to continue eating until she saw a cookie being held out to her. "hm?"

The scythe bearer smiled as she nodded towards the cookie. "Take it I know you want one." She grinned as the red head took the snack and ate it. "Feeling better?" She followed up with devouring another cookie before she took a drink of milk.

"Oh. Did I really look that troubled?" Pyrrha replied as she took a drink from her cup and set it back down on the table. The cloaked girl nodded as she placed her hands on the table. "I'm sorry. That new instructor said some overly mean things. Well I guess it sounded mean since I normally don't get scolded like that." She proceeded to let her head fall onto the table with a thud loud enough to make Ruby wince slightly.

"Jaune is different though. He's used to hearing these things and he even began improving to the point where it even surprised Goodwitch. Being shut down like that would cause anyone to believe they're back to square one." Ruby stretched as she stood up. "Jaune needs his space and he needs to know that we're there for him whenever he needs us but, how strong he can become will be up to him." She pulled her hood up and waved to Pyrrha before walking away. "Just remember this. He can't fail. He isn't allowed to and neither am I. We'll stand by his side right?"

The spear bearer nodded before she finished eating and ultimately headed back to her dorm room where one less member would be sleeping that night.

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So I've been AFK for a long time. Life, school, motivation. They're all things that affect me. Other than that I hope this story will be able to reach my current standards. Thanks for reading and Look forward to more.


	2. Trial

A/N: Chapter 2 is now live! Enjoy and in case you have questions about the events that transpire in chp 1-2 read the A/N at the bottom when you finish reading this. Have a nice day!

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The day started out as normal as everyone attended their classes until the afternoon when all the teams were to gather at the training grounds outside. A green haired man stood and waited as students began entering one by one. "Seems I will be teaching Ike's students…" He walked to the center and immediately pulled a book from his robe and began reading.

Pyrrha sighed as she checked her gear while walking to the training grounds. Yesterday was tiring but that afternoon's class seemed like it would be a lot simpler since it was going to revolve around strategy and tactics. "I heard our professor for this one is a friend of Ike's." She snapped out of her stupor as she looked over at Yang who was talking to her team. "I think it's the green haired guy I ended up punching while fighting Ike. What was his name again?" She stopped as turned to the other team to ask a question when they all heard a loud slam.

"I'm glad I got your undivided attention. My name is Soren. I will be teaching this class and it will be fairly simple material and practice." He looked at everyone and nodded as he pointed at the leaders of team RWBY and CRDL. "I want both of your teams to come forward. And yours as well Miss Nikkos." Everyone nodded as they stepped forward with their weapons ready.

"Yesterday Ike tested your battle capabilities and today I will be testing your ability to plan and execute a strategy. All others are to take notes on the strategies they use and then you will all be giving your input as to what worked and didn't work." He quickly formed glyphs under each team. "You will all be teleported to your destinations." He proceeded to toss each team a small white stone. "I will be keeping contact with all of you via those stones. Have your leader carry them." Each team readied themselves as they began disappearing one by one.

Once all teams disappeared, he concentrated on the stone as he began to speak. "Due to Team JNPR having one less member. Select a member of each team to stay behind and defend the objective. The two members selected to defend cannot leave the area and must be near their scroll part at all times. Please make your selections."

Pyrrha looked over at Ren and Nora as they began to discuss who they should force to stay in base. "If we make Cardin stay behind then he won't be able to command his team unless he's using his scroll to keep in touch with his team." She thought about it when the raven haired aura specialist spoke again. "The problem will be team RWBY. If we really need to keep someone out it should be Weiss. She will be able to harass us from afar with her spells while the rest of her team can close in but, it also works inversely. If we press her then she will have no other option than to be conservative until she needs to refill the dust canister on Myrtenaster. We can defeat her then and steal the scroll piece." The spear bearer nodded as she concentrated on the stone.

"Instructor Soren. We've made our decision. Weiss Schnee and Cardin Winchester will be the ones bound to their scrolls. We are ready to commence." The mage nodded as he concentrated on the stone once more. _"Understood. One more thing. Since you have one less member you are not bound to a single area. Your team is allowed to roam with the scroll piece. Attackers. Commence the mission! Cardin Winchester. Weiss Schnee. You are bound to your scrolls. Defend them and hope for the best. Good luck to all."_ The red head nodded as she readied her weapon and stood by the scroll. "Okay, we have a slight advantage with being able to stick together." She looked at the map that was in her scroll. "We're in the emerald forest, well technically near the entrance of it." She pointed at three highlighted areas.

On the map in their scrolls they noticed a few things. The entrance was comprised of three separate sections which acted as each team's base of operations. Apart from that, there were a series of differing paths connecting the three points. Some were loaded with trees while others were simple straight paths with paved roads. Finally, there was a section which was completely covered in trees and difficult to maneuver in a large group which Pyrrha took into account. "I'll go through the center, the trees will provide cover and allow me to ambush any attackers easily." She then pointed to the grass covered path connecting to team CRDL's location. "Take the grassy path towards Cardin's location and take the scroll from him. Once you get it we'll meet up and we can whittle down team RWBY for theirs."

Once the team agreed on the plan, they went on their separate ways. Pyrrha took a deep breath as she looked at the sea of trees in front of her. Once she built up her courage, she ran in and began making her way towards Weiss where she would scout the area ahead of her friends making it back.

Meanwhile, Ruby was thinking of a plan to effectively secure the other pieces of the scroll that they needed. "This place is a little too open but we do have a couple of buildings over there that we can use." The rest of the members of the team nodded as Weiss picked up her piece of the scroll and walked towards the group of buildings. "Okay now that Weiss is in a safe spot, Yang you go and try to get Pyrrha's scroll while Blake goes through the forested part of the entrance to take advantage of our numbers." The buxom brawler nodded while the ninja disappeared in a flash. Ruby then looked at the map once more and noticed that the clear path that Yang was taking would be the most dangerous so she decided to tail her sister in case she needed the backup.

Cardin spat on the ground while starring at his map with a frown. "JNPR Is going to be targeted heavily by two people most likely so we'll set up an ambush over here." He placed his hand on the part of the map where two of the paths connected before separating once more. "If we move quickly enough and hide ourselves we can jump them when they wear each other out. If anything we can take a hostage in order to make things smoother for us." He sighed as he looked at the scroll piece that he was forced to guard. He scoffed at the idea that he was being relegated to something a guard dog or random faunus would do. Scratch that, a dog would be better and listened when you told them to stay still.

"Sky! Dove! You two set up the ambush and capture someone we can use as leverage. If that little red riding runt is there grab her up and bring her to me. Her sister would have no option but to listen to us if we have her hostage." Once the members left, Russel spun his knife in his hands. "I got some traps set up at the entrance, if anyone wants in then they better duck." The two chuckled as they waited for the other teams to show up.

Yang sighed as she walked through the open path with her arms behind her head. "Man this is a bit boring. I don't even think we'll see Pyrrha let alone anyone there." She sighed until she noticed something was strange. "Hmm I'm close. Really close but no pot shots. Nothing." She sped up her pace and once she saw the clearing, her suspicion turned out to be true. "Go figure. They only have three people so I guess this is the best way to make it even." She fiddled with her scroll until the image of Weiss showed up. "I'm pretty sure Ruby is doing some sneaking so I'm not calling her." The heiress let out an audible sigh as she listened to the brawler. "They let em walk around so that piece that Pyrrha's team has is out there somewhere I don't know where."

Blake was moving through the trees unheard while she looked for hints as to where the other two members of JNPR would have moved to. Her ears perked up as she picked up the sound of moving leaves near her. _'Someone's close'_ she tracked the sound of the leaves where she noticed Pyrrha moving towards Weiss' location. _'I can't let her scout… but I need to help the others in case of an ambush.'_ She rubbed her head as she noticed the golden opportunity in front of her. _'I'll take the chance. Hopefully they'll understand.'_ With a light grunt the ninja landed close to the gladiator who was using Milo's rifle form to scout the nearby area. In an instant the two collided knocking each other away.

The brawler began her walk back towards the base but had a feeling something wasn't right. She hated that feeling especially since it tended to be true. "Whoever's there step out and I won't beat your face in too hard." She tried her threat once more but when no one stepped out she shrugged and continued her trek back to her base. Behind her was Dove who was tracing her while keeping his scroll's positioning system on. He smirked as he reached behind his back and drew his long sword. The blonde was clueless and hitting her now would be the best option as they made it to the center of the paths.

Yang had that same feeling again when she finally allowed her Ember Celica to take its full form. "Bring it on you creeps!" The only thing she saw coming was a flashbang which caused her to scream in pain as she tried to clear her vision. "Now!" Sky jumped from one of the trees and slammed the pole end of his halberd on the back of the brawler's head followed by kicking her legs out from under her. A scream caught the halberdier's attention as he turned and caught sight of Dove with ruby in a choke hold with his sword at her neck. Sky then placed the blade of his halberd on Yang's neck forcing her to stay still as she once again tried to clear her vision. "Ngh. You bastards! I'll tear you apart once I can see again." Sky taking his chance kicked the brawler in the side of the head knocking her out. "Let's get this twerp back to Cardin so we can lure the others."

Yang laid there unconscious as the two members from CRDL walked away with her sister. A few minutes later, Blake made it to the meeting point where she was supposed to originally meet her partner only to find her out cold. "Oh no…" She winced as her injuries from her fight with Pyrrha were aching. "I should have been here…" The ninja looked at her scroll and noticed a message on it from Cardin.

 _"Dear team RWBY, I have your leader in my possession and if you want her back, bring me whatever scroll pieces you were able to get. You all obviously know where I am but if you try anything funny… Let's just say you'll be looking for a new R in your team."_ Blake stared at the message in disbelief as she looked at her partner who began to stir. "Damn it all." She reached behind her back and looked at the scroll piece she was able to steal from Pyrrha and shook her head. "This wasn't worth it at all."

* * *

Nora and Ren walked through the grassland until they spotted something strange up ahead. "Renny! Look!" The aura user pulled out a pair of binoculars and zoomed in towards where Nora had been pointing. "Those guys are from Cardin's team." The martial artist looked at his partner with a worried gaze. "What's wrong?" He then handed her the binoculars which she then proceeded to look through. "I'm gonna break their legs!" She yelled out while going into a full out sprint.

"Nora wait!" Ren grit his teeth as he was barely able to tackle his partner onto the ground. Before she could speak he placed his hand over her mouth then pointed at some strange boxes in the area. "Those things are full of Grimm." He then pointed at the ground where she was about to run through. "Tripwire. If you hit that we would have had to fight a horde of Grimm." He carefully stood up and noticed that the wires were set up in case someone was being chased. "No way could anyone be able to see these if they were chasing someone." Nora nodded as she took a deep breath and slowly moved towards one of the large crates where the sounds of Grimm were getting louder and louder. Then suddenly it stopped.

Both realized they had just been had and were about to rush when the hammerer drew Magnhild and smashed it into the ground causing a mound of dirt to shoot up and stop a series of spikes which were about to impale them. "Ok pointy things that can kill us. Great!" She smiled as she switched her hammer to its grenade launcher form and began firing shot after shot at the crates.

With each crate destroyed, the sounds of explosions had stopped only to be replaced by the sounds of growling. Ren cursed under his breath when he took a deep breath and got into a hand to hand stance. "Nora I'll hold them off! Go catch up to those guys and get Ruby back!" The hammerer nodded before sprinting off after the members of CRDL. Seconds later a pack of beowolves had the martial artist surrounded. Taking his time he proceeded to dispatch each wolf one at a time until he was sent flying across the field.

"What the?" He pushed himself up and noticed an alpha was with him. "This is not good at all." Thrusting his arms out allowed his stormflower to come out from his sleeves and into his hands. He waited until the alpha made a move which caused it to simply sniff the air until it turned its head back to Ren. The alpha seemed to be grinning as it stalked its prey once it knew that the person's mate had left him to die. Lowering its body to the ground as it continued to tread carefully around the martial artist.

After a few seconds both attacked each other as a frenzy of bullets and swipes erupted from the two only resulting in Ren crashing into the ground after a heavy hit to the chest from the alpha's claws. He winced as he pushed himself back up and noticed the alpha back on him once more. With an aura empowered kick the beast roared as it staggered to the side allowing the hunter in training to flip back onto his feet and unleash a second burst of rounds from his weapon. In retaliation it unleashed a roar which caused Ren to shield his ears from the sudden influx of sound.

In the small amount of time his eyes widened as he was picked up and held by his neck. _'If Nora was here there would be no way she could fight this thing.'_ He struggled as the beast tightened its grip on his neck. _'Damn it. MOVE!'_ He grit his teeth when he noticed a series of arrows strike the plating on the beast's back causing it to growl before throwing the martial artist onto the floor.

He heard the sound of more arrows hitting the bone plating before a howl caused him to roll out of the way of the charging beast. A woman about five foot five stood near the trees with a compact bow unfolded at her side. Nodding at the beast the martial artist nodded as she notched another arrow and waited. Using his speed, Ren dodged a swipe from the beast before throwing himself back and unleashing a torrent up bullets causing the beast to shield itself. A second later, an arrow pierced through the gap of its mask and its eye.

With a roar the alpha grasped at its head and staggered in pain until the woman ran at it, a spear in her hands. She ducked under its claw and thrust forward only to bounce off of its plating. A second later she ducked under another swipe and used the pole end to knock its head upwards. She roared and spun allowing the spear to cut open its side followed by another hit to its head. The martial artist knew what she was doing. She was attacking its blind spot in an attempt to throw it off balance.

Once a few minutes had passed, Ren moved his leg and noticed the pain had become dull. Knowing he had to help he readied his weapon in its bladed form and charged forward. The movements of the alpha had significantly slowed by this point and the pair was as fluid as water flowing down a stream. They avoided each other's attacks with narrow gaps and landed hits almost simultaneously. Once the beast had been weakened the woman pulled back and held her spear in a close range stance before she began to glow a bright yellow. A second later, her spear had pierced through the bone armor and into its chest. Seeing the chance, Ren charged forward and slammed his palm into the base of the spear, using it as a conduit and blowing up its insides.

The two sighed in relief until two men approached the duo. "Miss Damiel! I'm glad we found you." The older of the two spoke before signalling to her to follow them. "Thank you for your help young man." Ren nodded, confused but otherwise relieved as the tree now walked towards the exit and what he suspected Beacon. The girl could fight, that much he knew but something felt off about her. He couldn't put his finger on it but he chose to shrug it off and find Nora who hopefully would have rescued Ruby by now.

* * *

It was about to be noon when the sound of a door opening caused the Arc heir to stir from his sleep. He looked up and Ike stood by his bed, his golden blade missing and instead of the attire from the day before, he wore a shirt with no sleeves and a black hakama. His headband was missing as well which caused the knight to chuckle until he groaned in pain. Okay no laughing, he told himself as he gently pushed himself up and leaned against the wall."What brings you here?" The vanguard rubbed his chin then placed a scroll on the table near him.

"I see that you have potential. A lot of it actually." The knight raised an eyebrow but before he could say anything Ike held his hand out to silence him. "But its misplaced. You're using a style that doesn't do anything for the weapons you have." He pointed to the scroll and then he pushed a button on the scroll that was in his hand causing the screen to turn on and show what was going on in Soren's trial. "I don't know how I did that but alright." He placed the device next to the rolled up parchment he had with him at first. "I'll explain while we watch the trial."

The screen showed an overhead view of the people in the trial with aura meters and locations. He opened his own scroll and began to cycle through the various locations that were highlighted with people. He stopped when he noticed that both Ren and Nora were separated. He stared at the screen and noticed the martial artist's aura levels being extremely low. "He fought something big. He's almost out of aura." The vanguard nodded as he leaned back into his seat.

When he looked at the others he noticed something shocking. His team was severely weakened and team RWBY were low on aura as well. When he cycled the camera, he noticed that Nora was facing off against two of the CRDL members while Cardin and Russel kept Ruby in a position where she could do nothing to help the hammerer. He grit his teeth and was about to move when Ike nodded to the lower side of the screen. "That might be reinforcements coming to help even out the field." The knight looked back at his scroll and noticed something off. "Yang is going to go berserk."

* * *

Nora winced as she rolled past some arrows that Dove had fired her way, following up with her grenade launcher in order to buy some time for her aura to do its thing. The problem with that train of thought is that it would of worked, had she been against one opponent. In this case, she was facing two people, both being able to fight at close and long range. muttering under her breath she began to think of a plan when the sound of explosions caught her ears. What followed could only be considered the roar of a wild animal.

Dove turned and was immediately sent flying into one of the nearby pillars and knocked unconscious. Sky grit his teeth and was about to retreat when a ribbon wrapped around his neck and pulled him back. With a grunt he collapsed to the ground and gagged as Blake put pressure on the ribbon until he finally passed out. She turned to face Russel who grinned while placing his knife dangerously close to Ruby's neck. "Stand down girls. I'm only gonna say this once." Cardin stepped forward with his mace on his shoulder. "Where's my scroll pieces?"

Blake was about to walk forward when Yang grabbed her wrist forcefully. "We're not giving you anything." She ground her teeth as she looked for a way to close the gap in an instant. How she could kill to have one of Weiss' time dilation glyphs. She looked around and grinned as she was about to fire when a squeak caught their attention. Ruby had woken up, she had woken up and was now under even more of a threat than she was before. "Give back Ruby and maybe we'll give you the scroll!"

The sound of his tongue clicking caused the duo to roll their eyes. "Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. I asked you where it was and now you don't even have it." He let the mace hit the ground causing a small quake to spread through the ground. "And here I thought you guys were smart." That was it, she could strike now. All she needed was two seconds of him looking away and she could punch him hard enough to knock him out. Blake seemed to understand what the buxom brawler wanted to do but she shook her head. If they tried to fight, Ruby would be in danger. "All you had to do." He raised his mace. "Was bring me." He turned to Ruby and grinned. "The scroll." Before he could swing, a hail of bullets rained down on him causing him to growl.

Taking the chance, Yang bolted forward but before she could do anything, the color red caught her eyes. A thin line was on her sister's neck which caused her to back down. Ren cursed under his breath as his ambush failed followed by being smashed into the ground by the warrior's mace. "Get rid of everyone here. I'll give your sister back then." Yang knew what he was talking about. Turning on her team, turning on her friends. All for Ruby's sake. She turned and punched her fists together causing her aura to flare up.

"I'm sorry." Were the only words to escape her mouth as she charged forward. Her gauntlets were met with cold steel as she and her partner now fought one on one. The two exchanging blows as much as they could at least until the brawler's aura was practically covering her entire being. Blake knew what was about to happen and it wasn't good. She braced herself as an aura empowered fist was about to crash into the ninja when a hammer and shield stopped the blow causing both defenders to crash into opposite sides of the ground.

Pyrrha winced, a few seconds later and they would of lost someone. Nora on the other hand gripped her arm as pain shot through it. Ren slowly pushed himself up and walked over to his childhood friend and smiled as he cradled her head on his lap. "You guys made it." The hammerer smiled as she whispered about taking a small nap, meanwhile the spartan pushed herself up and readied her weapons.

The blonde grit her teeth as she turned back and looked at Cardin. He would pay. He would pay dearly. She roared as she charged forward. Blake and Pyrrha nodded as they both went to meet the brawler half way only for her to stop, pivot and run at the warrior. With a snap of his fingers, Russel was about to cut once again, this time deeper when his hand stopped moving. "I-I can't move?!" The warrior cursed under his breath when he slammed his mace down on the ground forcing everyone to avoid the massive burst from ground shattering.

"Damn it all!" The duo was about to retreat when a ribbon wrapped around Cardin holding him in place. Yang on the other hand channeled all of her aura into her fist as it collided with Russel proceeding to send him flying into a pillar that was directly behind him. He was knocked out cold as he lay in the massive crater that his impact caused. With a smile she grabbed Ruby who was doing her best to keep her sister from smothering her.

* * *

Jaune watched on with his hands gripping the sheets of the bed. His eyes dangerously narrowed as he thought about the things he would do to Cardin when the time came to fight once again. "You said I needed training right?" The vanguard nodded and grabbed the roll of parchment that was on the table next to him. He them placed it in front of the knight. "What I'm about to teach you is going to be much different than what you know." He watched as the knight in training opened the scroll and looked at the words. His body seemed to react as he read the words aloud almost as if he knew the language that was on it.

His body began to glow, a purple light flooding into him followed by his aches disappearing. He looked over at the vanguard who nodded at his use of the item. "I see. This is what you use to heal yourself." The knight muttered as he watched the light fade away. His body felt lighter than it did when he first unlocked his aura, now he was able to heal the damage left behind from injuries. The two sat in silence until the door opened revealing deputy headmistress Goodwitch. "How can I help you Headmistress?" She pointed to the screen where everyone noticed the fighting had ended and the participants were being sent back.

"Your team needs their leader. They seem pretty out of it at the moment." Jaune nodded as he pushed himself up. He was about to be told to get on a wheelchair when he stood perfectly fine. "Alright. Mind if I change into my equipment before I see them?" The headmistress nodded as she stepped out, allowing the knight to ready himself for the trip to the sparring grounds. His thoughts were full of what he could do now that he learned such a strange ability. To heal damage done by a prior injury. That was some serious stuff yet he worried since he knew that if his team knew, they would only try harder to protect him. For now all he could do was keep it a secret and instead learn from the person who put him in that room in the first place.

A few minutes later, the trio walked to the sparring grounds where each team that had competed was now resting and or getting treated for their injuries. Jaune walked past the student who questioned where he was and walked straight to his team. The sight he was greeted with was not pretty. Ren was laying down on the ground while medics were working on his fractured ribs. Nora had her arm in a sling and a bruise on the side of her face. Pyrrha was the only one not seriously hurt with the exception of her arm being in a sling as well but only for safety reasons.

The gladiator perked up at the sight of their leader as she walked over to greet him when she stopped and saw his expression. It was a mix of sadness and rage which he controlled well, almost as if it was something he dealt with in the past. He motioned to the gladiator to sit down and she did allowing him to take a seat next to her. "Yang was forced to turn on us. She did it to save Ruby." The knight nodded as he listened to her retelling of the fight between an enraged Yang and his team plus Blake.

The two were interrupted when the medics let them know that Ren was doing well now. The two stood up once more and walked over to their injured ally. He groaned in pain but his aura had already begin to alleviate the pain in his body from the fight with the Alpha and the failed ambush on Cardin. "I'm glad you're feeling better." The martial artist called out with a chuckle before wincing. "Can't say the same about myself." The knight sighed in relief until he noticed Nora sitting next to Ren with tears in her eyes. "Don't worry Nora. I'll be fine in a few days."

The Hammerer shook her head as she rubbed her eyes. She whimpered as she placed her hand over his stomach gently. "i couldn't help you Renny." He chuckled but winced right after as he felt his body ache. Placing his hand on her cheek he wiped her tears and took her hand into his. "I'm fine Nora. If you nurse me like always I'm sure I'll be fine faster." At those words she smiled as she nodded allowing the rest of the team to sigh in relief.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yang was tied to a bed as they worked on her wounds from fighting three people. Ruby sat at her side waiting for her to wake up. Her hand resting on her neck causing her to remember the situation they were in. _Yang had fully lost all control as she proceeded to destroy everything in sight. She had grabbed an unconscious Cardin and was about to pummel him further when everyone who wasn't injured jumped on her. In a burst of power, she threw everyone off and walked back towards her prey when a glyph had formed around her stopping her in her tracks. The blonde looked to the source and saw Weiss who had abandoned orders. She was using all of her strength to stop the raging brawler from causing any casualties._ Ruby looked at her other teammates.

They had all been injured in stopping her sisters rampage. Ruby had hurt her leg, Blake was knocked out cold when she tried to stop Yang with her weapon. Weiss had been hit the worst, once she had interfered, Yang broke through five glyphs and hit her directly. Her aura instantly broke causing the heiress to pass out. The one who stopped her rampage was their instructor. What had they learned from this activity? All she had learned was that her team, even after all the trouble they went through, still had no synergy. To be outpaced by Cardin's team was one thing. To nearly kill them was another.

She thought back to how the fight was ended almost instantly. _Weiss had just collapsed and Ruby was about to try and stop her sister when a glyph appeared in front of her. Soren stepped out and simply shook his head at all of the destruction that had taken in the span of a few minutes. "I'll end this and send everyone back at once." The reaper watched in awe as he maneuvered past all of her blows, a blue light surrounding him followed by a black one. Once she had missed her fourth strike, she roared and was about to strike once more when her body was launched into the air by a vortex. From his sleeve she noticed a long thin blade that he readied as she came down. When she reached the appropriate height, Ruby's eyes widened as a dark red light surrounded his body."Go to sleep." A second later, her aura had shattered causing her to pass out._

 _The shadows did nothing to help the situation either. She looked on as dark eyes met lilac, frozen in her spot, she was mesmerized as she saw his lips curled downwards into a frown. His gaze disappointed as if he had seen something that was unforgivable. He spoke but she couldn't hear, her body refusing to cooperate from the immense pressure this man brought on her. The last thing she saw was him walking towards her, Yang in his arms. "Disappointing." Seconds later her vision went white as she was sent back._

Those few minutes he fought, were enough to cause her to feel something she rarely felt. Fear. Fear of losing someone close to her, fear of being an inadequate leader, and fear of these strange people that suddenly showed up. They weren't human. They were monsters.

* * *

A/N: I'm prolly gonna get some flak for this chapter. Yes Soren just insta Ko'ed Yang freaking Xiaolong while she was in her strongest state (that we know of.) There is a reason for this and for those who play fire emblem, you could tell how this happened. Yeah its diverging pretty quickly from the original story. Before the trial was almost three chapters but I decided to condense it to one chapter with this following chapter being the fall out of this event. The wheels are turning with Jaune gaining a new ability and accepting Ike's offer. Ruby feels inadequate in her role as leader and Cardinal were perceived to be the stronger of the three teams.

P.S. There are a few references to characters outside of RWBY in here. As well as a surprise cameo. Guess right get a prize? (maybeidkmaybeahhhhhhwe'llsee?)

Enjoy and don't forget to follow. Look forward to Chapter 3: Fortune Faded


	3. Critical

Everyone who was injured in the trial had been moved into different medical rooms allowing the staff to treat them properly leaving Ruby and Pyrrha as the only ones left. Soren looked at the two and shook his head as he continued to pace back and forth. He was at a loss for words but that wasn't everything. Something was nagging at him, what it was he didn't know. Stopping in front of the two, he reached for his side and drew what looked like a staff and held it in front of himself. He spoke words that neither huntress recognized. Within minutes their wounds had fully healed but that left the mage weakened. "Now that you can stand without trouble." He held his head as he fought off a wave of dizziness.

Ike walked over and helped steady the mage. Once he was feeling better, he spoke once again. "What I saw there was terrifying." The two looked down as he continued. "Terrifyingly bad. You have no semblance of strategy nor do you understand when specific strategies should be used." He crossed his arms and looked at Pyrrha first. "You choose a strategy that applies the principles of scouting but you never thought that when scouting you require at least two people." The spartan was about to reply when he cut her off. "By separating yourself from your team, you not only endangered your life but theirs." Once again she was about to speak when he stopped her once more. "If you were about to say that you planned to reunite with your team then you are dead wrong." He pointed to Ruby and spoke once more. "She knew what you were planning and prepared to counter that strategy, you're lucky that this was not a real mission. Otherwise your life expectancy would have been rather low."

"How do you know?" Her words caught the mage off guard as he looked at her defiant glare. "We were working with limited resources and we chose the strategy that should of given us the highest chance of success!" She clenched her fists as she took a step forward and looked the instructor in the eye. "What do you know about strategy in the first place? Having power like yours means you can easily defend and attack a position." This statement struck a chord with the mage as he narrowed his eyes at the spartan and gave a cold chuckle. "I knew someone who had your mentality. Guess where she is now." Pyrrha took a step back at the way the words came out. It felt like they were full of spite yet worry at the same time. "From your tone. I can only assume this person is no longer living."

"You are right. Seems like you do have some intelligence." The spartan was about to speak once more when the mage stepped away from her despite her protests. "A strategy that used the advantages of your situation. The one who can fight at range holds the scroll, the laguz takes to the trees and guards the area, and finally the sisters who hunt together." The word he used to describe Blake caused Ruby to raise an eyebrow at least until the mage spoke once more. "A strategy that is perfect. For defense." He stopped in front of Ruby this time and he looked at her. "Impressive knowledge of strategy. Unorthodox for someone who is supposed to be attacking." He looked down at the ground then shook his head and looked back up to her. "It is a shame that your plan failed. Terribly." She sunk into her cloak as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Your scout leaves her post in order to attain an advantage that was given to her by poor planning." She looked down at the ground and bit her lip while Pyrrha placed her hand on the reaper's shoulder. "Once you lost your scout, you got ambushed, you got taken and worst of all." He now stood directly in front of her causing her eyes to widen in fear. "You turned on each other with nothing but a simple push." In order to make his point he pushed her back causing her to nearly fall back until the spartan caught her. "A weak foundation will cause nothing but destruction." He turned back to the people in the stands watching. "If a simple push caused your team to collapse onto one another. I fear what would cause you to fall apart."

The reaper didn't even try to respond, she was too far in her thoughts and tears were now freely sliding down her cheeks as she heard everything the instructor said. Jaune sighed knowing all too well how she felt. It hadn't even been a couple of days and the words he received were still fresh in his mind. What might be going on in hers caused him to worry for his fellow leader. "What happened to you that you have to be this...this...cold?!" The JNPR leader turned to his partner who was holding the reaper in her arms while glaring at the mage. "What happened to me?" His reply was colder than anything he had said at that point. "Simple. I've seen strategies like yours falter. I've seen armies decimated because of some fool who thought they knew all the answers!" He stepped forward and looked down at the two huntresses. "You're here to avoid those situations. I chose to be here to make sure no one makes the mistakes that I've seen happen."

The vanguard was surprised as he knew the mage never raised his voice. At least not like he was at that moment. "I am here not of my own volition but out of necessity." He knelt down and looked at the pair. "If I have to remind you of your failures to grow then **I WILL**." He stood up and turned away from the pair. "Dismissed!" Once everyone left, Ike walked over to the mage who was gripping his robe in frustration. "Children. These people are nothing but children acting like adults." When he felt his friend's hand on his shoulder he shook his head. "I let my emotions get the best of me."

The vanguard shook his head. "You did but that means that those people are going to have plenty to think about if they want to continue down this path." He noticed that the staff in his hand was broken in half. "You're going to need materials Soren. You broke your staff." The mage looked down and chuckled bitterly.

"I'm going to wander the grounds and potentially find a way to the city. While I'm there I can find materials to work on some things." Soren stopped at the exit and shook his head as memories of that person ran through his mind. Images of emerald eyes and violet hair, a childish grin yet mature at the same time. He shook his head once more and continued his walk through the academy grounds.

* * *

A couple of hours had passed when the Schnee heiress opened her eyes and looked up at the white ceiling. The last thing she remembered was attempting to stop Yang when she felt her world go black. She tried to push herself up when her head unleashed a throbbing pain which caused her to lay back down. The nearby medic rushed over and told her not to move too much as she came back with some medicine for the heiress to take in order to repair the damage done. "Thank you." She spoke as she was about to close her eyes once again. Her attempt at sleep was stopped by the sound of sobbing. Someone was in the room and they were crying. Regretting her decision immediately, she pushed herself up and moved the protective screen over revealing Ruby who was holding her sister's hand. Her eyes were red indicating she had been crying for quite a while.

"Weiss..."

Her voice was strained. She was scared, sad, and unsure of what to do. The heiress stepped forward and winced a bit as she shook her head. Taking a chance, she had her aura work on her damaged body which instantly began to work as she sat next to the reaper. "What's wrong Ruby?"

"I'm a terrible leader."

The response caused her eyes to widen. What in the world had caused her to think that? One bad execution of a strategy was not enough to cause distrust. It must have been that instructor, he must have told her something. "You're not a bad leader Ruby. Far from it." She placed her hand on the reaper's causing her to look up, tear stained cheeks. The look in her eyes made her heart break as she pulled the girl into her arms. She knew the feeling all too well. Being treated like you were a failure, it was common whenever she did something wrong. She wouldn't let Ruby become a victim of the same treatment. "We need to grow. Knowing where we failed is the first step." The girl clung to the heiress before finally giving in to sleep's touch. "Once we're all better. We'll figure this out." She picked up Ruby and placed her next to her sister who had been untied from the bed. "We always do." She smiled before stepping out of the room.

* * *

Soren had just finished a meeting with headmistress Goodwitch where he explained his intentions with the trial as well as his plans for the coming days. Once they had finished their conversation, he had asked what was the fastest way to the city. Now with directions in hand he made his way towards the docks at least until he got lost in the courtyard. He sighed while looking around, his eyes scanning the surrounding area until he noticed the heiress walking around. Thinking back to his speech he decided to avoid anyone from that team at least until the meaning behind his words had finally sunk in.

He looked once again at the map until he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him. His eyes met with cold blue. He turned and began walking down the path closest to him until a hand gripped his wrist. "I can guide you if you happen to be lost." The words coming from her mouth surprised the mage, his eyes narrowing in suspicion at least until she pointed to the path opposite of him. "The docks are that way, the map you're holding is backwards." He grumbled to himself until he began walking towards the direction the heiress pointed at.

The two walked in complete silence until the heiress spoke once more. "Your ability. Its strange, at least in terms of what it can do." Soren hummed in agreement, his footsteps becoming faster as if avoiding the conversation completely. "Its similar to mine." The statement caused the mage to stop in his tracks. He turned to face the heiress, his eyes glancing her over then her weapon which he took note of had multiple colored tubes in it. "I can use glyphs that allow me to manipulate my surroundings as well as some elements." The two began walking once more until reaching the docks where the airship was waiting for people to board.

"Our abilities are nothing alike." Weiss raised an eyebrow in curiosity but was stopped from talking when they boarded the ship. "You use materials that mimic elemental properties. I call to them, control them, master them." To prove his point, flames danced around his hand before he closed his hand causing them to die out. The heiress watched as if in a trance at the way he called the elements to him. Like he was calling the very essence of their existence. She looked to the dust chambers on myrtenaster and thought about her abilities.

"Would I be able to learn? In theory." The mage rubbed his chin and looked over at the heiress who looked at him with hopeful eyes. He thought back to her fight with the brawler and how she had been able to stop her mobility with her glyphs. In theory he could teach but they were from a completely different place and unlike his partner Ike, he had no intention of letting his secrets go easily.

"Potentially. Yes. Will I? Time will tell." The two sat in silence until Weiss noticed the uncomfortable stares he was giving their surroundings. _'I'm in a metal container who knows how high in the sky and I don't know how.'_ He shook his head to clear his thoughts until his companion decided to strike up a conversation once again.

After a conversation about flying ships and dust, the airship finally landed allowing the passengers to leave. After walking off of the ship, the mage began walking towards the busiest parts of the city. "I will be parting ways with you here. I am assuming the busiest parts of this town involve the shopping district." Weiss sighed and decided to follow along anyway just to make sure the mage did not get lost in the town.

During their walk towards a nearby weapon shop, Soren stopped in his tracks and stared at a figure in front of him. It was a person wearing a white hooded coat that was lacking sleeves. Instead, orange sleeves covered the person's arms. The mage met eyes with the person and decided it was best to avoid them. "We're moving." The pair continued walking until he looked behind him noticing the figure was now following them. "Run." The two began to move through the side street and ran through the alley hoping to avoid this mysterious person.

Their run was stopped when that same person appeared in front of them. "Who are you?!" The heiress drew her weapon and readied herself as the enemy in front of her held their hands up and began to walk towards the mage. "Answer!" She charged forward attempting a thrust when in one motion, this person drew a sword of their own and parried the thrust. The two entered a dance of blades in an attempt to take advantage of the other's weakness. Thrusts, slashes, parries and sidesteps were all the two exchanged until the mage pulled the heiress back and with a dagger stopped a crimson blade. "T-thanks."

"Leave this to me." A second dagger made its way into his hand as he closed the gap and swung with his left. In response the person blocked with their blade at least until the second dagger caught the side of their hood revealing the person's hair. Purple. Soren's eyes widened as he grit his teeth. No. This wasn't possible. He roared as he charged forward, pressing his opponent with rapid strikes that were easily parried. When their eyes met, emerald. The world seemed to slow down as the mage jumped back and began chanting.

In response, the attacker charged forward and slammed the handle of her blade into his stomach causing him to gasp for air. "Not this time." With a pivot, the attacker slammed the flat of their blade into the mage's gut sending him flying into a nearby wall. He coughed out some blood as he pushed himself back up. At this point, his eyes were glowing as he chanted once more. "I. Said. No!" The attacker was about to close the distance, they were sent into the opposite wall by a cyclone of wind.

After the two fell to the ground, Weiss walked to the fallen instructor and helped him up. The pair then walked over to the fallen person who was coughing in between breaths. Soren took a deep breath as he walked to their assailant and grabbed the hood. Purple hair, emerald eyes, that grin, the movements with the sword. He prayed to the gods that this was who he thought it was. With a swift motion he pulled back the hood and with wide eyes he stared at the woman before him. "You caught me." She grinned as she leaned against the wall.

* * *

Pyrrha was at the training grounds attacking drones until she heard the door open behind her. Ignoring the new presence, she continued attacking the machines until the person hit the button to shut them off. With an angry scowl she turned to face the visitor only to have her eyes widen when she realized it was Jaune. "Have a minute?" The spartan nodded as she sat down by the stands where the knight joined her. "I know how you're feeling right now." She looked at the ground in silence until he spoke again. "As much as we may not like these people." She was about to speak when he motioned for her to wait. "They showed me how far behind I really am." He looked up at the carnage that was the training grounds when he sighed. "I know I have a long way to go but this isn't about me." He looked at her. "Its about you."

"He comes in and bad mouths all of us. Like he knows what we've had to deal with the last few months." The spartan shook her head as she was about to stand and walk over to the machines once more. "They know nothing of what we've given up to come here. To learn. To grow."

"That's exactly what the situation is." Pyrrha looked up in surprise as she looked at the knight smiling sadly. "To grow. We gotta look at how weak we are at the moment. Accept it and then grow from it." She looked at the ground then shook her head. "Its hard to accept it I know." He stood and walked to the center of the grounds. "But once we know what to do." He drew Crocea Mors and pointed upwards. "We can grow stronger. Together." He turned to face her with a smile. The light was in the right spot as the spartan blushed at the appearance of the knight. His blue eyes staring into hers as she walked to him.

"Only if you promise to help me while I help you." The knight nodded and grinned as he turned to the control panel. He took a few steps and pushed a series of buttons awakening three times the machines that were originally active. The two stood back to back with their weapons ready as the horde of machines charged at them. The first one was a Beowolf which chose the knight as its target when a spear pierced the side of its head. Returning the favor, he grinned as he jumped over his partner and bisected a second Beowolf in half.

The two were in sync as they avoided each other's attacks yet followed up on openings easily. One thing that was certain was, although they would suffer against other people. Against the creatures of grim, they were unstoppable. A pair of Ursa decided to take a chance at taking down the duo when a grenade smashed into them blowing them up. From another entrance, the second pair of JNPR had made their way into the arena with their weapons. Nora grinned as she held her grenade launcher with one hand. Meanwhile Ren winced a bit as he moved but took the chance to draw his weapons and fire at the remainder of the machines.

The leader sheathed his weapon and turned to his team. His eyes full of sincerity as he held his hand out. "I promise to help you guys grow as much as you've helped me." The others placed their hands over their leader's as he placed his other hand over his chest. "And Arcs always keep their promises."

* * *

Ike took a deep breath as he finished his last push-up and stood back up. He looked over at the table and noticed the weird thing they had given him was glowing. "How do you work this again?" Picking it up, he analyzed it as much as he could before hitting a random part of the screen. He reeled back as it made a noise. "What the?" Staring at the image he noticed it was Soren. "How the hell did he get in this thing?" Shaking the scroll he sighed as he tossed it back on the table with a low thud. Shaking his head he went back to his workout until it stated shaking once again.

Stopping once again he sighed and picked it up once again only for it to start vibrating. In surprise he dropped it which caused the device to beep followed by a voice coming out of it. _"Hello?"_ The vanguard picked up the piece of technology and stared at the screen once more. This time the image of one of his students, Weiss was on it. _"Hello? Instructor?"_ Ike raised his eyebrows in amusement while thinking of a way to reply. "Is this a ghost?" The voice on the other side sounded surprised as it retorted quickly. _"I am not a ghost! This is your student calling you on your partner's scroll!"_ Scroll? That was what this device was called. He shrugged as he was about to toss it when he heard a voice once more. _"Ike. This...object...is like the heron's seer stones. It allows us to communicate from afar. How it works. I have no idea."_

Sighing once more he shrugged as if they could see him. "If this thing is like the seer stones. How are we using them?" The voice on the other side let out an annoyed sigh as they began a complex explanation of how the scrolls worked. "Okay so this is a device which can let me keep in contact with people. Okay I understand that much." The voice spoke once more but this time it sounded serious. _"Get the directions to the docks near the school. Theres someone that you need to see."_ The vanguard rubbed his chin as he thought about the sudden secretive nature of his friend. "Alright I think I know where they are. I'll see you there then."

Once the call ended, Ike tossed the device on the table once more and left the room. A towel draped over his shoulders as he walked towards the docks near the entrance of the academy. Using the end of the cloth, he wiped his brow all while thinking about the device they called a scroll.

* * *

It was around midnight when Yang finally opened her eyes. She sat up and winced slightly but quickly shrugged it off. Looking over to her side, she noticed Ruby sleeping next to her. She stared at her sister before moving and getting off of the bed. Testing to see if she could move well she jumped in place a few times before walking towards what looked like a balcony. Opening it, she took a few steps outside and stared at the night sky.

 _Yang roared as she slammed her fist into Russel's head causing him to pass out almost immediately. His knife flew to the side and crashed into the ground with a weak thud allowing the fighter to hold onto her sister with a warm smile. Those warm feelings were gone very soon when she heard a voice. His voice. Cardin was laughing as he watched the fallen members of JNPR keeping each other safe while team RWBY was fractured beyond belief. Blake warily looked to her partner who was about to say something when he spoke._

She moved her eyes towards the moon and looked at it. Her eyes rested on the pieces that seemed to just float in place no matter how different it should look. Her eyes roamed over to the pieces which seemed to be fading from existence. "Today is a crescent moon." Looking at the emptiness that was there caused her to think back to the events earlier that day.

 _"A tiny little push. You all make me sick." The warrior had pulled himself free and was about to attack when he stopped and instead tossed his weapon down. "One little push and you all turned on each other." He turned to Yang and smirked. He knew that even though they may have all failed their trial, he won, he won by manipulating a team to turn on each other. "But, I've been caught so I give up. Feel free to take the scroll piece" The fighter grit her teeth and roared as she closed the gap faster than anyone could react._

 _No one threatened Ruby, forced her to turn on her friends and got away with it. **No one.** With one punch to his unprotected jaw, he flew into the ground and bounced a couple of times before landing still. The rest of the people there were telling her not to continue but she ignored them. With every step, she could feel her anger grow stronger. Her hair and body now fully ablaze with golden flames._

Faster than anyone could move, that was how fast she moved when Ruby was in trouble. She felt a strange sensation looking into that empty section of the moon. She knew it was there and it existed but the inability to see it caused her discomfort for some reason. Maybe she blamed Blake for leaving her post, maybe not knowing what she did was causing her trouble. Maybe, just maybe, she understood that the events that lead up to their failure were all her fault.

 _She reared her fist back but before she could punch through her target, she heard Blake and Pyrrha. Instead of words coming out of her mouth, she roared and charged at her friends. The rest went black as the only other thing she remembered was being moved from the training grounds._

Yang continued to look up at the sky when she decided it as time to go back into the room. She eyed her sister and decided for her, for everyone, it would be best if she took some time to herself. Searching for Blake, stopping Weiss from making a stupid decision, fighting together as one. That was everything to her and if staying away allowed everyone to get back into form, then so be it. On the bright side it hadn't been too long since she last hit juniors. On the other hand, she decided training took priority. "Maybe I can look for someone to help me." With a yawn, the brawler sat back down on the bed and laid down. "G'night rubes. I'm sorry." She kissed her sister on the forehead and closed her eyes once again as she let the remaining thoughts of her failure haunt her.

* * *

A/N: OK wow. This chapter is not my finest work especially with all of the jumping around. BUT if you stick with me on this I promise there will be a payoff at some point. For now let the story lines build and let things happen. Yang is planning to step away while JNPR is more united. Soren and Weiss have stumbled onto someone rather unique. Oh btw, there will be a poll sometime this week or next. Keep an eye out.

Next chapter: Two Weeks


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